According to the Treasury Department, as undersecretary for international affairs, Summers would advise and assist the secretary and deputy secretary of the Treasury in the formulation and execution of U.S. international economic policy, including the development of policies and guidance of department activities in the areas of international monetary affairs, trade and investment policy, international debt strategy and U.S. participation in international financial institutions.
The infamous Summers memo, which was widely reprinted in newspapers around the world, contained inflammatory statements such as "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable," and "I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted ... Only the lamentable facts that so much pollution is generated by non-tradeable industries (transport, electrical generation) and that the unit transport costs of solid waste are so high prevent world welfare enhancing trade in air pollution and waste."
Summers issued a second memorandum to the World Bank staff in January 1992 stating that the widely circulating reports of his memo "unfortunately [make] it appear that I am seriously forwarding certain strong arguments when in fact these positions were stated ... as a sardonic counter-point."
At the time the memo was leaked, José Lutzenberger, former environmental secretary of Brazil, called it "a concrete example of the unbelievable alienation, reductionist thinking, social ruthlessness and the arrogant ignorance of many conventional �economists' concerning the nature of the world we live in."
Doug Hellinger, managing director of the Washington, D.C.-based Development Group for Alternative Policies, says that for two years, "Summers blocked initiatives to make the World Bank more environmentally and socially responsible." In nominating someone who has aggressively promoted the economic austerity policies that have wreaked havoc across the South, Hellinger charges, Clinton is "rewarding Summers for pushing Reaganomics-type policies abroad."
Clara Couto Soares, a spokesperson for the Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IBASE), says, "It is hard for us to believe that a Democratic administration would appoint Larry Summers. His ideas regarding development threaten the chances for a better understanding between the U.S. government and the people of the South."
Environmental and other U.S. non-governmental organizations, according to Hellinger, tried to warn the Clinton transition team that Summers' appointment to any significant economic policymaking position "would be seen widely in the Third World as a slap in the face." In December 1992, these groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Bank Information Center, warned the Clinton transition team of the implication of Summers' nomination for chair of the council of economic advisors. That nomination was blocked, but critics say the post of undersecretary of international affairs will in large part define U.S. positions at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Dave Batker, research associate for Greenpeace, says, "People working on ecologically sound development all over the world are horrified by this nomination and Summers' name should be withdrawn before confirmation."
Both the World Bank and the Treasury Department declined to comment on the nomination.
Bland's case was supported by her union, the National Association of Local Government Officers, which represents public employees, as well as Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the Washington, D.C.-based nonsmoking advocacy organization. Because the case was settled out of court, no legal precedent has been set in England. But according to ASH, many others in the United Kingdom are expected to follow Bland's lead in seeking damages from employers or other agencies that permit smoking.
In the United States, says John Banzhaff, executive director of ASH, there have been "numerous situations where persons have been awarded settlements, worker's compensation or injunctions against smoking in offices."
Also in January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report which classifies secondhand smoke as a carcinogen and finds that ETS kills about 3,000 U.S. non-smokers a year from lung cancer alone. According to Banzhaff, "In view of the Bland case and the new EPA report, there will be a tremendous increase in awareness about the direct and overwhelming effects of smoking in the office, or even elsewhere on the premises of any workplace."
The British settlement follows an announcement by Health Minister
Brian Mawhinney that the ruling Conservative Party plans to introduce legislation
to outlaw smoking in public places and at work sites if voluntary means
fail. Mawhinney gave the notice in the House of Commons after the opposition
Labour Party called for a ban on tobacco advertising.
- Julie Gozan